Language

Hispanics in the United States

Spanish moves north

EVERYONE knows the number of Spanish-speakers in the United States is increasing—but where in the United States? Last month the Census Bureau released data from its latest American Community Survey showing the percentage of people aged five and over who speak Spanish at home. This survey took place over five years from 2005 to 2009, so it's not a snapshot, but with that caveat in mind, it does show small but notable differences from the 2000 census, both in the overall percentage of Spanish speakers (up to 12.1% from 10.7% in 2000) and in where they are concentrated: increasingly in the north and centre of the country.

The maps below show those differences, but to see them it's actually easier to click on the maps, open them full-size in separate browser tabs and flip between them. What you'll notice is:

smaller concentrations of Spanish-speakers in parts of the southern states that used to be in Mexico: New Mexico, Arizona, south-west Texas and southern Colorado

a distinct increase in the north-west: northern California, Oregon, Washington and western Idaho

patches of increase all across the central states, and more noticeably, in Florida, Georgia and the eastern seaboard

most impervious to change are the far north—Montana and the Dakotas—and deep south: Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama

I'm not sure what this all adds up to, but I'm sure some of our readers know the answer. One interpretation I can think of is that second- and third- (or even later) generation Hispanics in old Mexico are becoming more prosperous and moving northwards, while keeping their Spanish in the family. Another is that those in the south are anglicising, while new immigrants are seeking opportunities further afield from the border. It may also be that undocumented Hispanics in the north are less wary of census-takers than they used to be. These explanations aren't all mutually exclusive, of course. What's interesting is that either way, the deep south remains a redoubt of whiteness non-Hispanics.

I would ask for a little mention of the NY-CT-NJ area too which has a growing Spanish Speaking population, which is different in makeup than that of the boarder states (ie. caribbean and not so much Mexican). This is also a big phenomena, but harder to see on the map since the areas in question are small (but heavily populated) compared to big states like California and TX.

Having gone to the spreadsheet, I can report that West Virginia and Vermont have the lowest percentage, followed by Maine. Alabama and Louisiana both have more Spanish-speaking families, as a percentage of the total, than does Ohio. Perhaps there is a story about deindustrialization here.

In the seventies, a rather "New Age" sort of book was published listing the so-called "prophecies" of Pope John 23rd made before reaching papacy.

By my tone, you can guess what I think of the book's quality, but I will not forget was that one of the purported prophecies forecast that "Americans" would be invaded and overcome by their Southern Spanish speaking neighbours.

As far as I can remember, it is the only prophecy in the whole book that we may consider to have become partially true...

We know what you mean when you say "spanish". But you need to know that "spanish", as the language who originally speaks the spanish people, does not exist. There are some languages who lives together in Spain: catalan, basque language, galizian language, castilian,.. In Barcelona, for example, we speak catalan and castilian. Both of them are official languages, and both of them are "spanish languages". It will be better that you say "castilian" instead of "spanish". Please, check out google changes.

Proximity does make a difference; but also you must consider that there have always been a strong Chican (very different culture when you pay attention to detail) community in each of these states. Increased migration also seems to impact people's association with a particular culture or language.

With that said, I assure you that the quality of spanish spoken by most 1st and 2nd generation kids is very poor and this is probably not the sign of a change of dominant language as many fear mongerers in the US would suggest.

In our house we speak either English or Spanglish... there is really no pure Spanish. I trend that my antedotal observations notice as common in other households as well; even if the parents have not fully integrated into larger society.

"smaller concentrations of Spanish-speakers in parts of the southern states that used to be in Mexico: New Mexico, Arizona, south-west Texas and southern Colorado"

We're looking at percentages so it's hard to tell if there are fewer Spanish-speakers or more English speakers. However, the population of Arizona, for instance, is up almost 25% from 2000 to 2010 - I suspect a snow-bird invasion, rather than a decline in the numbers of Spanish speakers.

@Oriol, just as the majority of Spanish speakers in the US are not from Spain, the language that they speak bears little resemblance to Castillian, though it may derive from it.

The great majority of Spanish-speakers are from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Ethnically they are referred to as Hispanic. Perhaps we should add Hispanish as the language they speak, although a Mexican would speak quite differently from a Chilean or a Cuban. Freetranslation.com has three different selections for Spanish; Latin American, Mexican and European.

Proximity does make a difference; but also you must consider that there have always been a strong Chicano (very different culture when you pay attention to detail) community in each of these states. Increased migration also seems to impact people's association with a particular culture or language.

With that said, I assure you that the quality of spanish spoken by most 1st and 2nd generation kids is very poor and this is probably not the sign of a change in dominant language as many fear mongerers in the US would suggest.
In our house we speak either English or Spanglish... there is really no pure Spanish.A trend that my antedotal observations indicate as common in other households as well; even if the parents have not fully integrated into larger society.
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You can keep a long debate with many reasons and a explain the history behind it... BUT!, in America, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, we say “español”, that is the language we speak. Even in the few English speaking countries in America, they call it “Spanish”. I do not think that will change.

One factor I didn't see mentioned was the influx of "whites" into areas that have been heavily Hispanic. When growing up in New Mexico, I witnessed a flood of non-Hispanics into the state, most of them apparently from the East. That surely diluted the percentage of Spanish speakers.

I'm a Hispanic who currently lives in Arizona, and as you may know, new changes in immigration laws plus law enforcement, are pushing Hispanics upper north. I used to live in the Pacific North West ten years ago, and I remember how easy it was to obtain some sort of legal status, just by applying for a driver license and even a social security card. I even recall, after 9/11 how busy the offices of the Department of Motor Vehicles in Oregon would be at any given time, when California ID laws were drastically changed, so it would prevent any illegal alien from obtaining an ID document.So, what you find in the recent census numbers is the result of new Hispanic immigration trends that reflects on how new immigration policies are being implemented in other states. That's why it's so difficult to accomplish a national immigration reform when at state level there are so many discrepancies.

Do you speak Spanish? Spanish is amazing for its uniformity, inspite of being such a wide-spread language. A Mexican has no problems in understanding a Spaniard nor a Chilean. The differences are tiny; very rarely a different word is used and slang is obviously different. An example of the miniscule differences:

In Spain: They tend to say "hemos comido" (haber+verb) to say, "we have eaten".

Rest of Spanish-speaking world: "Comimos" (we ate). This sublte difference doesn't impact understanding at all, it just sounds funny to both parties.

We all speak different types of Spanish with our own vocabulary but we all understand Univisión and Televisa and have no problem communicating with other Hispanophone peoples. I have spoken to people from Western Sahara, Equatorial Guinea, Ceuta and even the Philippines in Spanish and we have understood one another perfectly!